In the past heterogeneous computing meant different ISAs had to be handled differently, while in a modern example, Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) systems[2] eliminate the difference (for the user) while using multiple processor types (typically CPUs and GPUs), usually on the same integrated circuit, to provide the best of both worlds: general GPU processing (apart from the GPU's well-known 3D graphics rendering capabilities, it can also perform mathematically intensive computations on very large data-sets), while CPUs can run the operating system and perform traditional serial tasks.
The level of heterogeneity in modern computing systems is gradually increasing as further scaling of fabrication technologies allows for formerly discrete components to become integrated parts of a system-on-chip, or SoC.
[citation needed] For example, many new processors now include built-in logic for interfacing with other devices (SATA, PCI, Ethernet, USB, RFID, radios, UARTs, and memory controllers), as well as programmable functional units and hardware accelerators (GPUs, cryptography co-processors, programmable network processors, A/V encoders/decoders, etc.).
[3] AMD's 2014 announcement on its pin-compatible ARM and x86 SoCs, codename Project Skybridge,[4] suggested a heterogeneous-ISA (ARM+x86) chip multiprocessor in the making.
(Although such systems are technically asymmetric multiprocessors, the cores do not differ in roles or device access.)